Yesterday marked the death anniversary of our beloved Beatle, George Harrison. The Beatles star lost his life to cancer in 2001 at the age of 58-years old. He had been battling the disease for years, and it was not a complete show to his nearest ones. The reason he had some time to say his final words and give parting gifts.
Paul, while talking about his former bandmate, revealed the last conversation he had with Harrison before he died. He revealed that his last meeting was emotional and filled with nothing but love. He said, “The last time I met him he was very sick and I held his hand for four hours.”
He recalled and said that it was the very first time they had held hands. He continued, “I’ve never held his hand before, ever. That’s not what two Liverpool buddies do, no matter how well you know each other, I kept thinking: He’s going to hit me here.”
Well, he didn’t. “But he didn’t [hit me], He hit my hand with his thumb and I thought, ‘Oh, that’s good, that’s life,’ It’s hard, but it’s beautiful. It is what it is,” said Paul.
Twenty years later, Paul revealed the gift he got from Harrison before his demise. While talking with NPR’s All Things Considered, he revealed, “George was very into horticulture, a really good gardener, so he gave me a tree as a present. It’s a big fir tree and it’s by my gate.”
Seems like it has acted as a constant reminder of his one lost friend. He revealed that it was a tree that George had grown and cultivated himself. He continued, “As I was leaving my house this morning, I get out of the car, close the gate and look up at the tree and say: ‘Hi, George.’ There he is, growing strongly. It’s lovely. He gave it to me – I just planted it. But then, as the years go by, every time I look at it I go, ‘That’s the tree George gave me.’ George has entered that tree, for me. I hope he’s happy with that.”
Last year was the 20th anniversary of Harrison’s death. Paul hadn’t forgotten about it and posted something on his social media account. He posted a black and white photo of them playing guitar with the caption,
“Hard to believe we lost George 20 years ago. I miss my boyfriend so much. I love Paul.”
Paul also revealed what he talked about with George for the very last time. He smiled and said, “We said silly things. We were in New York before he went to Los Angeles to die… We were sitting there, and I was holding his hand, and it occurred to me – I’ve never told this – I don’t want to hold George’s hand. You don’t hold your mate’s hands. I mean, we didn’t anyway.”
“I remember he was getting a bit annoyed at having to travel all the time – chasing a cure. He’d gone to Geneva to see what they could do. Then he came to a special clinic in New York to see what they could do. Then the thought was to go to L.A. and see what they could do. He was sort of getting a bit, ‘Can’t we just stay in one place?’ And I said, ‘Yes, Speke Hall. Let’s go to Speke Hall.’ “
“That was one of the last things we said to each other, knowing that he would be the only person in the room who would know what Speke Hall (a public garden and estate in Liverpool) was. Anyway, the nice thing for me when I was holding George’s hands, he looked at me, and there was a smile.”
George died at an estate owned by McCartney in Los Angeles. He was alongside his wife, Olivia Harrison, his son Dhani Harrison, and his closest friend Ravi Shankar alongside other Hare Krishna devotees. George was cremated at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. His ashes were scattered in a special ceremony in the Ganges and Tamuna rivers in India.
His wife, Olivia also, later on, revealed Harrison’s last words to share with the world. She revealed he said, “Everything can wait, but the search for God cannot wait, and love one another.”
